Otto Bremer Trust has record year of giving

Greater Minnesota Housing Fund was among three metro organizations that each received $1M grants from the trust in 2016.

As reported by Shannon Prather in the Star Tribune in January 2017, the Otto Bremer Trust, the charitable foundation that owns 92 percent of Bremer Bank, gave away a record $47.3 million in 2016 — the largest annual amount since bank founder Otto Bremer created the trust in 1944.

The funding, in the form of grants and program-related investments, went to 550 applicants in Minnesota, North Dakota and western Wisconsin including nonprofit organizations, cities and school districts.

Three Twin Cities organizations each received program-related investments, such as loans or equity investments, of $1 million:

• The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund was awarded $1 million for a fund to acquire and preserve 1,000 units of naturally occurring affordable housing in the Twin Cities.

• The Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) received $1 million to support minority entrepreneurs.

• Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity will use its $1 million to help low-income families buy affordable homes in neighborhoods of their choosing.